Mayers eyes another NHL season

A few days after the Chicago Blackhawks captured the Stanley Cup, veteran Jamal Mayers said he was mulling over the decision to retire from the NHL after 14-plus seasons or continue playing.

"If I do walk away, I can do it as a champion," Mayers said June 27.

On Tuesday, Mayers' agent, Pat Brisson, said in an e-mail to the Tribune that the unrestricted free-agent forward who won his first Cup when the Hawks claimed their second in four seasons, "would like to return. We are optimistic we will have a team come September."

Though Mayers lives in Chicago, it's not likely he would return for a third season with the Hawks. Mayers was a healthy scratch throughout much of the regular season and all of the playoffs and general manager Stan Bowman said on Friday he doesn't anticipate any more moves that would impact the roster for the 2013-14 season. The Hawks currently have 22 players under contract for '13-14 and are about $1.2 million under the salary cap.

Mayers had two assists in 19 games with the Hawks in 2013 and his one-year contract that paid him $650,000 expired after the season. Mayers has 90 goals and 129 assists in 915 career games and was one of the Hawks' leaders last season despite the limited ice time.

“I feel like I can still skate, and in today’s game you have to be able to skate to keep up with those young kids,” the 38-year-old Mayers said in June.